Page 21 of A Touch of Treachery (Section 47 #3)

My dearest Charlotte,

Since my previous auction at the Halstead Hotel was so rudely interrupted, I am holding a new event.

You are cordially invited to attend the annual Winterfest charity event at my Glittertop Resort. Special guests such as yourself will have the opportunity to bid on my Redburn formula, in addition to taking part in other festivities throughout the weekend.

Please arrive by 5 p.m. this evening for the kickoff event. Bring all the toys you want, but this invitation is limited to you and your plus-one. I’m just dying to see Desmond again.

Toodles for now,

Henrika

I sat there, completely dumbfounded, for the better part of a minute. Then my shock wore off, my eyes narrowed, and I read the invitation again—and again and again, parsing every single sentence, word, and syllable.

Henrika was telling me exactly where she was going to be. The spider was inviting the fly into her parlor, which meant it had to be a trap. But the longer I stared at the invitation, the more determined I was to crawl into Henrika’s web and strangle her with the strands.

My gaze slid over to the clock in the bottom-right corner of my monitor. Just after nine a.m. Henrika hadn’t given me much time to get to her resort.

Footsteps scuffed across the carpet, and a shadow fell over my body. I glanced up to find Joan Samson standing beside my desk.

“You need to come with me, Charlotte,” Joan said in a tense voice. “Right now.”

My stomach clenched with dread. “Why?”

Her lips pinched together into a tight line. “We received a message from Henrika Hyde.”

S till clutching the invitation, I grabbed the cream-colored envelope with my name, then followed Joan out of the level-three bullpen and into the elevator.

“What happened?” I asked.

Joan shook her head, making her long black hair swish around her shoulders. “I’m not entirely sure, but Henrika contacted someone at Section, and now it’s all hands on deck. Gia told me to bring you to the fifth-level conference room. That’s all I know.”

Truth , my inner voice whispered. Joan was in the dark, but I knew— I knew —this had something to do with the invitation in my hand. What sick game was Henrika playing now?

The elevator stopped, and we hurried down the corridor and entered the level-five bullpen.

The cleaners and liaisons sitting at their desks eyed me as I followed Joan down the center aisle.

I looked past her, but Desmond wasn’t at his desk.

Surely he would be involved in any meeting about Henrika. So where was he?

Joan stopped at her own desk and sorted through some folders. I awkwardly hovered beside her, all too aware of the eyes on me. Desperate for something else to focus on, I scanned her cubicle.

Just like my space on the third level, Joan’s was largely devoid of toys and knickknacks. Several mugs held a variety of expensive pens, but the only truly personal item was a picture on the corner of the desk. Curious, I picked up the silver frame.

In the photo, Joan was smiling wide, with one hand flung out at a beautiful sunset over some old ruins.

The gorgeous image was drenched in color, from the hazy pink rays that streaked the sky to the dark gray of the stone ruins to the deep blue sea in the background.

A bit of silver winked on Joan’s chest right over her heart, matching the glitter of her pale eyes.

“What a lovely photo. Where was it taken?”

Joan jerked back as though I had startled her, and she hesitated before answering. “Greece. On vacation.”

Truth , my inner voice whispered.

“How fun,” I murmured.

Joan’s fingers clenched around the folders in her hands. She obviously didn’t like me touching her stuff. Couldn’t blame her for that. I studied the photo another moment, committing it to memory, then set the frame down.

“Let’s go,” Joan said in a curt voice.

I followed her into the conference room in the back of the bullpen. Evelyn, Gia, and Diego were already sitting in the same spots as yesterday. Evelyn and Gia both had grim looks on their faces, and Diego swallowed hard as though he was about to be sick.

“What’s wrong? What’s happened? Where’s Desmond?” I asked, my voice growing louder and sharper with each question.

Evelyn shook her head, but she didn’t answer me. Gia’s face remained grim, and Diego shoved his black glasses farther up his nose.

Joan skirted around the table and took her usual seat next to Diego, leaving me to drop into the same chair as yesterday.

We sat in silence for the better part of two minutes. Then several sets of footsteps scuffed on the carpet, quickly growing closer and louder. Desmond entered the conference room and sat down beside me.

Relief rushed through me. I opened my mouth to ask him what was going on, but General Percy entered the room, along with his two bodyguards.

One of the bodyguards shut the door, and the familiar buzz of the soundproofing rang out.

General Percy slapped a stack of folders onto the table, then took his own seat, his posture ramrod-stiff.

His gaze met mine, his blue eyes as cold as ice.

I didn’t need my synesthesia to know something was very, very wrong—and that the General blamed me for it.

“Show it to them,” Percy commanded in a stern voice.

Diego swallowed again and hit some buttons on his laptop. The film screen dropped down to cover the wall, and a video started playing.

Henrika Hyde’s face popped up onto the screen. She was forty-something, with light brown hair, green eyes, and flawless pale skin free of wrinkles thanks to the many beauty serums and creams she had invented. Henrika was a lovely woman, but the sight of her wide, mocking smile made me flinch.

“Greetings, Jethro,” she said in a low, silky voice. “I trust you and the other members of Section 47 are doing well.”

General Percy glared at the video as though he wanted to reach inside the screen and throttle the weapons maker.

“You’re probably wondering why I’m contacting you,” Henrika continued. “I wanted to extend a personal invitation to my Winterfest charity extravaganza, which is being held at my Glittertop Resort. I’m sure you’re familiar with both the event and my property.”

Several photos flashed by on the screen, showing a beautiful resort sprawling across a mountain, along with people skiing, ice skating, tubing, snowboarding, and even jumping into a frigid-looking lake.

“During Winterfest, hundreds of guests flock to my Glittertop Resort to enjoy a weekend of luxury amenities, gourmet food, and a variety of games.” Henrika’s voice played over the photo montage.

“All the proceeds benefit cancer research. Such a worthy cause, wouldn’t you agree?

Especially given how many Section members have lost friends and family members to such awful diseases. ”

My hands clenched into fists on my lap. She was talking about Grandma Jane.

The photos vanished, and Henrika appeared again. “I will also hold an auction for my Redburn formula at the resort. Two designated representatives from Section 47 are invited to come and bid on my marvelous creation, along with other special guests.”

More photos appeared on the screen. I recognized the faces, and my stomach clenched with fresh dread. Henrika was giving some of the most dangerous paramortal criminals and terrorists in the world a chance to acquire her deadly explosive.

The images vanished, and Henrika appeared again.

“Now, Jethro, I imagine you will get some rather unpleasant ideas about crashing my party, so before you do anything rash, I wanted to let you know exactly what my associate stole from your storage facility yesterday.” Henrika leaned a little closer to the camera, her green eyes glittering in her face.

“A list of all Section 47 agents currently undercover around the world.”

I stiffened in my chair. Beside me, Desmond also stiffened. Joan sucked in a startled breath, and Evelyn tapped her pen on her notepad. Gia muttered a curse and glanced over at Diego, who gave a reluctant nod of confirmation.

Bryce Finkley had stolen the undercover—UC—list, which meant Henrika had access to every agent’s real name, along with their aliases and mission objectives, and she could expose them to their enemies at any time.

A fist of guilt wrapped around my heart and squeezed it tight. Henrika had the UC list because of my failure on the Vault mission. All these agents were in danger because of me and my stupid pride and selfish desire to beat Henrika at her own game. My stomach roiled.

“Now that I have your attention, let’s get down to details,” Henrika said, leaning away from the camera.

“Section 47 wants my Redburn formula, and I want to conduct my business safely without the constant threat of arrest and imprisonment, so come to my auction. If you win, Section gets the formula and the UC list. If you don’t win, well, you don’t want that to happen. ”

Henrika’s eyes gleamed with triumph. She held all the cards, and she knew it.

“I’ve left some further instructions with Charlotte Locke.

Follow them exactly, and Charlotte and her plus-one will be allowed into the auction.

” Henrika’s gaze bored into the camera. “Deviate from my directions in any way, and you will be severely punished, along with your undercover agents and all the innocent bystanders at my resort. Toodles for now, darling.”

Henrika raised her hand to her red lips and blew a cheeky kiss at the camera. A few seconds later, the video ended.

“I received this message thirty minutes ago in my private email account,” General Percy said, his voice cold, clipped, and furious.

No one said anything. Everyone, including me, was still trying to digest all the threats and implications in Henrika’s message.

General Percy stabbed his finger at me. “What did Henrika mean when she said she sent you further instructions?”